Hindmarsh P C, Matthews D R, Brain C E, Pringle P J, di Silvio L, Kurtz A B, Brook C G
Endocrine Unit, Middlesex Hospital, London, UK.
Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 1989 Apr;30(4):443-50. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2265.1989.tb00444.x.
We have estimated the half-life of serum growth hormone (GH) in six subjects on 14 occasions following an intravenous bolus injection of either 50 or 500 mU of biosynthetic human growth hormone (B-hGH) while endogenous GH secretion was suppressed by a continuous infusion of somatostatin. The disappearance curve of serum GH was mono-exponential and the mean half-life was 8.9 min (SD 1.5). This is less than previously reported and has important implications for the performance of GH profiles, which should be performed with 10-15 min sampling intervals, and the calculation of pituitary GH secretion rates.
